New Mexico officials and religious leaders are considering applying for federal funds to improve security at places of worship following deadly shootings in recent months targeting Jewish congregations in other states.

The federal government has boosted funds for a multimillion-dollar program meant to upgrade security at nonprofit organizations that could be targets for terrorists, such as synagogues, churches and mosques, but New Mexico has not yet sought any of the money.

That may change as discussions about security become more commonplace at houses of worship.

New Mexico Homeland Security and Emergency Management Secretary Jackie Lindsey, who took office in January, said the agency will begin to encourage eligible nonprofits to apply.

"This is a conversation happening in Jewish communities across the country," said Zachary Benjamin, executive director of the Jewish Federation of New Mexico.

The effort comes after a gunman killed one person late last month at a synagogue in Poway, Calif. That shooting fell on the six-month anniversary of an attack on a synagogue in Pittsburgh that left 11 people dead.

The Chabad of Poway synagogue had applied for a $150,000 federal security grant for new gates and more secure doors, according to an Associated Press report. The money was approved in September and awarded in late March. Synagogue officials said they hadn't had a chance to begin using the funds before the attack.

Reports of anti-Semitic incidents have risen nationally over the last decade, according to the Anti-Defamation League, including in Santa Fe, where a Railyard Park monument to a group of German Jewish brothers who were instrumental to the city's development in the mid-1800s was defaced with the word "Jews" in white paint.

These issues arose at a Holocaust remembrance Thursday night at the state Capitol.

"We see more now than ever the resilience of the Jewish people, the strength of the Jewish people," Rabbi Berel Levertov of the Santa Fe Jewish Center Chabad told the crowd.

The center was planning a service at 10 a.m. Saturday in response to the attack in Poway. "Hate won't win," the center said in an announcement of the service.

San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore, center, speaks at a news conference held outside of the Chabad of Poway Synagogue Saturday, April 27, 2019, in Poway, Calif. One person was killed and three injured in a shooting at the synagogue. Denis Poroy, AP

This year, New Mexico could get several tens of thousands of dollars from the Nonprofit Security Grant Program. And the federal government has expanded how the money can be used to include not just security equipment but also contracting with security personnel.

Launched in 2005, the program has provided tens of millions of dollars for religious organizations to buy outdoor lighting, new locks, security cameras and other such items.

It is up to state agencies, such as the New Mexico Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department, to apply for the funds from the federal government on behalf of eligible organizations.

While some states have promoted the program, New Mexico has not.

Lindsay said grants from the federal program could be particularly helpful for smaller organizations in the state.